Jo-Anne asked: So,
round robin fashion, what do you say to a mother who comes to you and
says, "I have decided to start giving him a bottle." How do you ask why,
empathetically, and what does she usually answer? Then what do you say
next?
Firstly, I would want to know the age of the baby, & then perhaps ask if she
was going back to work, or delve into other reasons: having problems? and so
on. If working was the reason I would probably ask was she planning to wean
or was she going to continue breastfeeding when at home. I would probably
recommend some books re breastfeeding & working if this was the case, talk
about alternate methods of feeding such as cups, particularly if baby
resisted bottle, etc. I would also mention risks of using a bottle if mom
wanted to continue breastfeeding so she could watch for them and deal with
them: sore nipples, refusing breast etc.
This is such a big ball of wax question & could go so many places. It could
come from a mom who wants to wean, who doesn't want to wean but feels she
should be (outside pressure), who wants a break, and so on.
I am wondering, in light of the recent long heated thread if you are
wondering do people go into the risks of formula feeding, assuming this mom
is using formula in bottle? I guess I probably would only if she asked.
Just as I was asked once by a mom, who was going to go away with her husband
for a week-end, and knew her 18 month old would scream all night while was
gone, "will she suffer long term damage from this?" I could not give her an
answer either way of course and could only help her with suggestions for her
caregivers to deal with her baby as sympathetically as possible.
There's no real easy fast answer to this question is there? because there
can be so many reasons and so many directions it can go.
Deborah Sowery-Quinn
_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|
